Improvement in wheelbarrows



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v Wheelharrows.

. 155,084. Patented Sept.15,1874..

Q smu mm mmnu-uuunw 111:] sum UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH Gr. HARRISON, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE TUBULAR BARROW AND TRUCK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WHEELBARROWS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,084, dated September 15, 1874; application filed August 4, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. HARRISON, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Wheelbarrows, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates particularly to wheelbarrows made wholly or for the most part of metal.

Ordinarily the frames of such barrows, including the handles, are made tubular, and are attached to their bodies by bolts passing directly through them. This materially weakens the barrows, and in time they are liable to break away at the bolt-holes.

The object of this invention -is to obtain a better method of fastening the frames and bodies of the barrows together, so as to obviate this defect.

To this end the invention consists in the combination of tubular handles connected together by a rod of metal or other material, which is bent in front in a semicircular form, thus forming a guard for the wheel, said handles serving to support the tray, while the legs are secured upon the handles by clips or straps connected with the handles at suitable points, and riveted to the tray, so that all perforating of the handles is dispensed with.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an inverted plan of a barrow having my improvements applied, and Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

A is the body or tray of the barrow. It may be made of sheet metal in the usual way. Its frame is made of tubular handles B B, connected in front by a semicircular rod or bar, a, or may be formed in one piece with the semicircular portion a, thus forming a guard directly in front of the wheel. The handles are bent upward, as usual, to enable them to be conveniently reached. The legs C C of the barrow consist of sheet metal strips, which are clasped at one end round its handle, just in the rear of the tray, and thence are bent downward to the required length, to support the barrow in the position it is dc sired to assume. From this point the strips are bent up to the fore part of the handles, and are there secured by the clips, which attach the fore part of the handles to the tray, as I will presently describe. The legs thus formed are braced laterally by an intermediate strip of metal, D, secured at its ends to the ends of the legs, and at its middle to the tray of the barrow by a rivet or bolt. The clips which secure the frame of the barrow and its tray together consist simply of straps of metal, f and s. The clips f embrace the fore part of the handles, and likewise the corresponding portions of the legs, and are fastened to the tray by rivets passing through their ends. The clips 8 are riveted to the tray at one end, and are bent over the handles so as to embrace and hold them, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Barrows thus made are much stronger than those constructed in the old manner, and are a great deal more durable.

I do not broadly claim the employment of tubular handles in the construction of wheelbarrows, for such is set forth in the Letters Patent granted to B. W. Tuthill, dated J anuary 3, 1871, and reissued April 17, 1871, which is hereby disclaimed.

What I claim is- The tubular handles B B, having the semicircular portion a to form a guard directly in front of the wheel, in combination with the tray A, frame C, legs D, and clips f 8, substantially as described.

JOSEPH G. HARRISON.

Witnesses:

HENRY '1. BROWN, MICHAEL RYAN. 

